Tag: Inner Critic

What King is saying is not to avoid writing darlings, but rather to remove them from the final product. This is important because I believe that breathing life into those “darlings” is one of the best ways a writer can improve his craft.

According to me, there are at least 100,000 known writing strategies. Maybe even more (and that’s why we shouldn’t destroy the rain forest). Working at a college writing center has really opened up my eyes to all sorts of writing processes that professors recommend, and even though most of them have nonfiction, academic papers in mind, I think that we creative folks can glean something from their recommendations. The particular process I have in mind is called the Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge, brought to you by Betty S. Flowers, and…

Have you ever read a book with long passages of description? At first, you may engage, similar to how I used to vow to use my planner at the beginning of every semester. And then interest falters. Some descriptive paragraphs feel like a mud slog. I admit that even I start to skim over fat paragraphs, purely for self-preservation, after a while, and I LOVE description…

The evaluation of art is a really strange thing. Ratings and numbers cannot possibly explain a person’s understanding and digestion of art, but it is as close as an instant approximation as we can get. Agnostic of context, ratings are pointless, almost silly.

I’m the kind of writer who joyfully overestimates his own ability every time I sit down to type. And I’m sure I’m not the only one… I smile, pull open my laptop, look at the pages before me and think, “finish editing the whole book today? hell yeah!” One paragraph later: “finish the whole chapter today? Of course!” Thirty minutes and a few sentences later: “finish the paragraph today? OBVIOUSLY!” And then I get three sentences done. But even that doesn’t diminish the feeling I get when I start working. I…

Some folks call their Inner Critic ‘writer’s block’ and, since this is such a well-known issue, accept the fact that their creative brain is diseased for at least the rest of the day and content themselves with email checking and Tumblr tumbling. The concept of ‘writer’s block’ has never made sense to me, simply because it’s not a valid excuse for other professions, so it shouldn’t be for mine, either.

Subscribe for info on new releases and book signings!

Email address:

First Name

Last Name

Leave this field empty if you're human:

Zachary Barnes

Zachary Barnes is an American fantasy author who has been writing fiction since 2007. After attending James Madison University for Music Education, Zachary moved to Northern Virginia where he began his career in education. Currently, Zachary is the assistant manager and lead tutor at the Reading and Writing Center at Northern Virginia Community College.